With the launch of the Tesla Model 3, Elon Musk’s mission to bring electric cars to the masses is officially under way. And while the $35,000 price point and 220-plus-mile range are major selling points, the real story is what is—and isn’t—to be found on the inside of Musk’s latest model.

The sleek interior of the Model 3 is minimalism carried to its logical conclusion. Like the Models X and S before it, the centerpiece is a touchscreen (this time shrunk from 17 to 15 inches and oriented horizontally). But the removal of the dashboard instrument panel and almost every conceivable analog button are striking changes from previous Tesla iterations. Everything from speed and battery range has shifted to the center-mounted touchscreen. Drivers can toggle through its display options via buttons on each side of the otherwise uncluttered steering wheel, or by tapping the display itself.

The instrument panel isn’t the only thing Tesla turned invisible. The car’s climate is controlled by imperceptibly small air vents, using "two intersecting planes of air for vertical control and lateral fins hidden within the dashboard for horizontal control," which can be adjusted by dragging your fingers across the touchscreen. Other button-based actions such as popping the glove compartment or trunk take place via tapping the screen as well.

Stripping away so much of what we’re used to seeing behind the wheel is a bold gambit, but Musk is betting that most drivers ultimately "won’t care" about the changes. And given that the disruptive CEO’s side project involves "enabling people to live on other planets," this spartan interior surely points to a future where autonomous driving means we won’t even need to keep our eyes on the road from the driver’s seat. With more and more pre-ordered Model 3’s making their way to the driveways of Tesla diehards in the coming months, we’ll find out soon enough whether drivers are willing to let go of their controls.

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